All posts tagged fandango

Saturday, April 5, 2008

So I’ve been slacking in my duties, and I missed the opening of the new Courtyard by Marriott hotel next to the Casino Fandango. It opened on March 28th, adding 100 hotel rooms to Carson City’s inventory. This brings the total number of rooms in Carson to 1,500. The article mentions that in a couple of years there will be 220 more when the Sierra Gold hotel opens, and it even makes a half-hearted attempt to bring the Ormsby House and its 135 rooms into the mix. “If it opens as planned,” they say. That’s a big if.

Welcome to the Carson City Courtyard, located in the heart of the Carson Valley just 30 minutes from Reno and Lake Tahoe. Located in Nevada’s historic State Capitol, this hotel is conveniently located close to area businesses including Carson-Tahoe Regional Medical Center, Harley-Davidson, and local government offices, and is just minutes from the Carson City Airport. Experience the Old West by visiting attractions such as the Divine Nine Golf Courses, Nevada Railroad Museum, Kit Carson Trail, Nevada State Museum, and Virginia City just up the hill. Enjoy the perfect steak or catch a flick at the Fandango Theater and Casino next door. Our spacious guest rooms include features such as plush beds, refreshing bath amenities, and Royal Cup coffee, and free high-speed Internet for your comfort and convenience. Try an upgrade to a roomy King Suite or the posh Players Suite! We offer breakfast daily in the Courtyard Cafe, drinks in our Lobby Bar, and everything else you need to enjoy your stay in Carson City!

Prices at the hotel start at $139 for a standard room with two queen beds, and goes up to $189 for the “Players Suite” with a separate bedroom.

Saturday, January 19, 2008

The Marriott Courtyard made a big step this week: they put up their sign.

The new addition to the First Presbyterian Church is actually turning into a real building, right before our eyes. A roof and windows and everything.

Now that some of the architectural details are starting to appear, you can see a few parallels to the old building. The tall, curved windows, and the way the gable edges turn in at the bottom. But it still seems to be following the big barn model of church design.

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

A new poll reveals that a vast majority of the nation’s bums will vote for the presidential candidate who promises them the most change.
“I keep hearing this election is about change,” said Tuberculosis Einstein, a veteran Nevada panhandler occasionally seen outside a 7-Eleven in Arkansas, Virginia, Massachusetts, Florida, Delaware and North Dakota.
“I need change. Everybody I know needs change,” added Gimme Two-Bits, a longtime collector of both vintage and modern coins.
“I been looking for change every day ? for as long as I can remember,” said Dunno Alzheimer, who boasted that he hadn’t changed his clothes in 41 years.
“Them Democrats mentioned ?change’ 103 times at a debate in New Hampshire. That’s a good sign,” said Gangrene Willie, an undecided vagabond who slept under a Clinton sign last night but plans to back Huckabee in South Carolina, then catch a westbound boxcar to vote Obama in Alabama.
Polls show many street-level tramps are concerned about health care. But not Wheezy Marlboro or Bloodclots Washington. They just want change.
And some bums say they are troubled by the slumping cardboard housing market. Not Subprime Morty. His #1 issue is change.
Two-Nickels Roosevelt confided that he, too, is passionate about change.
“I’m serious,” he gasped. “Please give me some dang change.”
Pundits say the hobo demographic will be vital to the 2008 election ? widespread talk of change will draw record numbers of bums to the polls, causing presidential candidates to pander to the panhandlers.

Thursday, December 27, 2007

It’s been a long time since I’ve done one of these construction update posts. Probably because I rarely set foot in Carson City during the daylight hours anymore, owing to my stay-at-home dad status with the new baby. But it’s winter break now, which means my bleary eyes get to emerge into the sunlight and snap a few pictures.

Bodine’s construction, way down south at Clear Creek road, is coming along very nicely. The exterior wall panels are going up, and soon they’ll be able to start working on the interior, fitting it out for a spring opening.

Work on the Marriott Courtyard hotel at the Casino Fandango is now entering the final stretch. The exterior work is almost completely finished; just a little rockwork on the ground floor remains. I’m sure interior work has been progressing just as fast, and look for this place to open within a couple of months.

But the real gem of Carson City is turning out to be the St. Charles Hotel. It is undergoing renovation to welcome the Firkin and Fox Pub into the ground floor, and I gotta tell you, it’s starting to look Firkin Fantastic. I posted a few construction photos last month, but they’ve already made so much progress even since then.

A new coat of paint, new signs, new windows, new awnings; everything on the St. Charles has been moved from “old and dated” to “new and fresh”. You don’t realize how much of a difference can be made with just a little “curb appeal” until you see it in action. The hotel went from a neat old building that was easy to overlook to an absolute showcase for downtown. This is the kind of rejuvenation that many of the other storefronts on Carson Street need; maybe this project will kickstart more renovations throughout downtown.

And F-Day is fast approaching. They’ve tacked a sign on the door that announces the opening date for the Firkin and Fox Pub; it will be January 7, 2008. That’s only about a week and a half from now. The doors will open at 5:00pm

Just for a kicker, here’s how the St. Charles looked just two years ago. Actually, it looked like this up until last summer. If they put half as much care into running the restaurant as they did into renovating it, they should have a solid hit on their hands.

Wednesday, May 9, 2007

There’s always something exciting going on at the Casino Fandango. Their expansion plans have been active nearly non-stop since they opened in 2003. And right now they have a couple of big projects going on at once. One of them is this, the new hotel tower they’re building on the site of the old RV dealership.

Work is progressing on the second story as the walls are framed up for the hotel rooms.

They’re also getting close to the end of construction on their new movie theater. The structural work is finished, so now they’re working on cosmetic details, like this swooping curve that’s going to stand out over the main entrance.

And this, I really don’t know what’s happening here. This is the empty space at the bottom of the hill between Curry Street and the back wall of the casino. I keep hearing about a casino expansion that’s in the works, 24,000 additional square feet, so maybe this is prep work for all of that. And it could include some kind of bridge over Curry Street to safely bring people to the movie theater. I really don’t know, but it looks exciting, whatever it is.

And finally, inside the building they’re going to be opening a new Italian restaurant this summer. They just never stop, do they?